


The numbers nine and ten weren’t just two numbers

by slof



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 9/10, Fluff, M/M, idk man, kagehina day, this is just for a friend Idc about tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26397958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slof/pseuds/slof
Summary: Kageyama and Hinata — nine and ten.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	The numbers nine and ten weren’t just two numbers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [drinkurfuckingmilk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/drinkurfuckingmilk/gifts).



> HI JAY I LOVE YOU THIS IS FOR YOU MWAH

The numbers nine and ten weren’t just two numbers.

Nine wasn’t just the number before ten; ten wasn’t just the number after nine. Nine wasn’t just one less than ten; ten wasn’t just one more than nine. Nine wasn’t just the odd number; ten wasn’t just the even number.

Without nine, what would ten be? Just one, just a single number all alone. Ten didn’t like that, neither did nine. 

* * *

Ten was the jersey number one Hinata Shouyou got handed to him in his first year of high school. 

Shoyou accepted it with bright eyes and a growing ambition -- the desire to be the best ace around on the volleyball team. It brimmed within him, the same want that first manifested when he was just in middle school as he watched the same black number ten jersey on the TV.

The number held a certain history behind it, Shouyou felt something every time he thought of it. Something rang a certain sound at the memory, one that Shouyou remembered from his first year.

Shouyou was the number ten. 

Nine was the jersey number one Kageyama Tobio got handed to him in his first year of high school. 

Tobio didn’t think much of the number at first. It was a simple jersey, Tobio had gotten many before. He even landed the number one jersey back in his last year of junior high, the captain jersey. 

The number held a certain history behind it, Tobio pictured something every time he was reminded of it. Something ran through his thoughts when he looked back at his past, a frame Tobio still had in the back is his mind. 

Tobio was the number nine.

They wore the numbers together, worked and grew together. Shouyou wanted to keep the numbers during their high school years, though they were handed new numbers throughout; Tobio wouldn’t mind being the number nine of Karasuno a little while longer, just as long as his ten was there as well.

Nine and ten competed more than others could keep track, but of course, they did. They remembered the numbers, who was in the lead, who was losing, who lost last, who and what the winning streak was. The two wouldn’t forget, and the two wouldn’t give up.

Standing twenty-four years old, the two of them were professionals on the sport, though they lacked the numbers that drew a connection.

They had a recent match together, their numbers weren’t like they had been. Standing on different sides of the net, Shouyou wore twenty-one, Tobio wore twenty.

The numbers shared some of the same qualities as their old ones had.

Twenty-one was the number after twenty; twenty was the number right before twenty-one. Twenty-one was one more than twenty; twenty was one less than twenty-one. Twenty-one was odd; twenty was even. 

Though the feeling wasn’t the same.

Because there was something about the numbers nine and ten that stuck with the duo forever. 

That feeling was one they missed, something they dreaded to feel again. 

Kageyama Tobio stepped on the twenty-twenty-one national stage wearing the number nine — Hinata Shouyou stepped on the twenty-twenty-one national stage wearing the number ten. 

The number ten looked over at the number nine, a smile beaming on his face. Something settled him, calmed him down as he looked at the decoy. Even though there were probably thousands watching them, Tobio felt calm, no numbness in his finger tips or lead in his shoes. 

It was satisfying, after all these years they returned to the numbers they began with — returned to the numbers that held battle scars from the growth in their first year — returned to the numbers the two were connected by — returned to the numbers that let the other know _‘I’m here!’_

The match ended in their win around eight-thirty, reporters crowded the players and congratulated them, asked them questions, complimented plays. Japan’s National team was flustered with people, a cluster of fans gathered around. 

Tobio waited thirty minutes before he grabbed Shouyou and dragged him off.

The walk started at nine, and the setter and the decoy shared a silence, both of them still left in the sweaty jerseys with the numbers that shook the thought of a distant memory. It was quiet, nothing but the cold night around them. The moon was bright enough to light the path, somehow they were able to find an area where another soul would be non-existent. 

A box sat in the pocket of Tobio’s jacket, he slipped the team jersey on before he rushed to grab Shouyou out of the cluster of people. His hand moved to his pocket, clutching ahold of the small container. 

Shouyou stood in front of him, leaned against a railing as he stared off at the view of the city. From the distance they were at, they gave an image of a night sky dotted with stars.

“It’s nice,” Shouyou muttered quietly. “I mean, we compete a lot but working with you again felt nice.” He stood up straight, a sigh escaping his lips — definitely a happy sigh, a relieving sound paired with a puff of air. “Especially with these numbers again.”

“Mhm,” Tobio agreed, and he slowly pulled out the box from his pocket. A wrist watch was held in his other, and he pulled it out to check the time.

_ ‘Nine forty.’ _

“Hinata.”

Shouyou looked to Tobio and turned his head in question. “We’ve come full circle, haven’t we?” Shouyou said instead. “Except I don’t hate your guts, and I actually like you now instead of wanting kick your ass.”

“Don’t you still want to kick my ass?”

“Yeah,” Shouyou laughed, “but it’s different now. Like now I really, really like working with you. I don’t know,” he frowned, “there’s something about you being my setter that makes me know a hundred percent that we’re going to be okay, you know? Just like the faith I had in your back in high school—“

“Shouyou.”

“I just wanted to say, you’re my OG setter, Kageyama. I know I can trust you, I’ve always trusted—“ 

Tobio grabbed Shouyou by the cheeks and put his forehead to his. He only gave the ten a few seconds to be surprised before he put his lips to his, the kiss only lasting a few seconds before he pulled away to look at him.

“You talk too much. Can you just listen to me?” 

“Yeah,” Shouyou whispered, still in a bit of a shock. “Yeah, sorry.”

Tobio’s hands left Shouyou’s cheeks but only so he could pull the box from his pocket. He popped open the box, a shiny ring sat inside of it.

“It’s cheesy,” Tobio muttered, “but I got something to ask you.” Shouyou just nodded quickly, any efforts of speaking left his tongue numb. “Will you compete with me for the rest of our lives?”

It was silent for a bit, Shouyou looking between Tobio and the box. 

That was until he bursted out in laugher. “That’s the line you chose?!” Shouyou put a hand over his mouth to stifle laughter. 

Tobio shrugged. “Why not?”

Shouyou smiled, wider than he had before. If Tobio was being honest, he was selfish. He was glad that they were the only people there, that he was the only person who could see his smile right now. 

The decoy wrapped his arms around Tobio’s neck, pulling him down to his height so he could press his lips to his for another kiss — a kiss that Shouyou was actually ready for. There was something about feeling the ten’s smile against his lips that the nine wouldn’t exchange for the world.

Shouyou pulled away, bitting his lip as if he could hold back the grin on his face. “Want to race to see who is the first one to tell?” He asked. Tobio raised an eyebrow as he pulled the ring from the box, staring at Shouyou’s hand as he slipped the ring on it.

“Already?”

“Scared of another competition?” Shouyou asked with a grin. The setter slipped the box in his pocket before looking at Shouyou, the dark brown eyes he led himself to believe that he fell for way before he realized. 

He stepped aside from Shouyou and broke out in a sprint.

“Go!”

“Cheater!”

* * *

The numbers nine and ten weren’t just two numbers.

Nine wasn’t just the number before ten; ten wasn’t just the number after nine. Nine wasn’t just one less than ten; ten wasn’t just one more than nine. Nine wasn’t just the odd number; ten wasn’t just the even number.

With nine, ten would be complete; with ten, nine would be complete. The two weren’t just numbers, they were rivals, best friends, and in the end, they were what some people found to be soulmates.

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter @mattsuhana


End file.
